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Trump Got A Medical Draft Deferment For Heel Spurs, But Couldn’t Remember Which Foot Was Affected

The Vietnam draft seems to have dealt Donald Trump a bad hand, as his original 1964 draft number was quite low. He listed as “1-A,” or ready for service. He had been able to avoid service by the quality of attending the University of Pennsylvania (a 2-S deferment), but after he graduated in 1968 he was again classified as 1-A and eligible for the draft. After an Armed Forces physical in September of 1968, Donald Trump was listed as 1-Y, or “qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency,” meaning he was not eligible for the regular draft in force at that time. Later, in 1969, the draft lottery was ran again, and Trump received a very high number, essentially eliminating any chance that he would have to serve.

How did Trump get the sought after 1-Y medical deferment a year before that lottery? Before that his number was quite low, and he would have likely been pressed into service upon leaving college. The Trump campaign made this statement in 2015 regarding his draft status:

“While attending the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Finance, Mr. Trump received a minor medical deferment for bone spurs on both heels of his feet. The medical deferment was expected to be short-term and he was therefore entered in the military draft lottery where he received an extremely high number, 356 out of 365.

“When the draft occurred, they never got near his number and he was therefore exempt from serving in the military. Although he was not a fan of the Vietnam War, yet another disaster for our country, had his draft number been selected he would have proudly served and he is tremendously grateful to all those who did.”

Donald Trump told the New York Times that he had been diagnosed by a doctor, who had written a letter to the draft board. He could not remember the doctor’s name, nor could he produce the letter, despite repeated requests from the Times. “I had a doctor that gave me a letter — a very strong letter on the heels,” Trump said in the interview.

It was easy for a draftee to get a letter from a friendly doctor, especially if you happen to be the son of multimillionaire who just graduated from an Ivy League school. But bone spurs are real, can be quite painful and could legitimately preclude a young man from being able to walk the long distances necessary for a soldier. You would think that such malady would be memorable for the rest of your life.

But Donald Trump has very little memory of the painful condition that kept him from serving his country in the Vietnam War. He provided very few details in the New York Times interview, even when pressed. He could not remember which foot, or both, was affected. He never had any sort of treatment or surgery. He could not remember how his physical activity was affected. He could not remember how long the affliction lasted, or when it cleared up. “Over a period of time, it healed up,” he told The Times.

Donald Trump did not serve his country in Vietnam. He got several deferments for being enrolled in college, but that was very common, with many current politicians of today, namely Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, doing the same thing. The medical deferment however, is much fishier. It is hard to believe that he couldn’t remember any details about this, including which feet were affected. It strains credulity. He was notably silent on the subject of his deferments for decades, until 2011, when he first publicized the heel spurs story. Unfortunately, the detailed Selective Service records were destroyed in the 1970s. Heel spurs were not mentioned in Trump’s health records released by the campaign, where his doctor said that the 70 year old would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to presidency.”

7 comments

I. Am a retired naval Vietnam veteran and consider trump as a coward and also one who lies to serve his self centered egotistical agenda. I for one hope his own coined phrase is used on him “your fired”. He nor Hillary should have both been deemed ineligible to run for the presidency!!

He didn’t dodge the draft! When his number came up. He was medically “Disqualified” and given a medical deferment. When the medical condition was fixed, his temporary deferment was up. He was placed back into the draft pool and his number never came even close, to being called again. Had it come up again. He would have served.
Why don’t you pick on the REAL Draft Dodgers?
Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg, Howard Dean, Al Franken, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Bob Kerrey, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman, Chris Matthews,Bill O’Reilly, Robert Reich, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, Mark Udall, Henry Waxman, Bill Weld, George Will, and more!
ALL received “Deferments” from the VietNam War. Some medical (like Donald Trump) some NOT medical (like Bill Clinton.)
Bill Clinton lied about why he couldn’t go to serve and failed to keep his promise, to enroll in the ROTC. That’s a Draft Dodger! Not Trump! His number WAS in there, and he would have served, had it gotten pulled again. Trump’s was medical. Clinton was the coward and defiant. Big difference between these two men. Huge! No comparison.
My father is a disabled veteran and served 2 missions, in the Vietnam War. We were stationed in Arkansas. Bill Clinton was just getting started in politics. He was a skank then and still is a skank! Trump may have had some minor flaws. But, NOTHING compared to the despicable human being, Bill and Hillary Clinton! They are corrupt, evil, monsters. The Clintons will one day have to answer to a higher court and more powerful judge. It will SUCK to be them, at that time.

There is a stark difference between getting deferments and paying a doctor to lie to give one a deferment as was Trump’s practice. The doctor did not even examine Trump when he waved a large amount of money in his face to write a letter that Trump called a “very good letter”. Doctor shopping was illegal and a felony and certainly makes it appropriate to label such a person as a “draft dodger”. One of Trump’s greatest flaws was having Bill Clinton as his best friend. Trump, Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein have a lot to hide from others.

You are deserving of an ad hominen attack far more vile than being accused of being a total moron. Bob Kerrey is a medal of honor winner who, as a Navy SEAL serving in Viet Nam, lost part of his lower leg. Not that there is much utility in trying to educate a moron, but Donald Trump has produced no evidence of any treatment or therapy for “bone spurs”, cannot remember what feet were affected, and cannot remember what disabling symptoms he was suffering. Trump is undeserving of toting the bed pans for people like your father and Bob Kerrey. The validity of the other names on your list does not in any change the likelihood that Trump was a 4F fraud.

I think we are saying the “right” Army doctors would be more than willing to give a pass to the sons of the wealthy and influential if they were given an excuse to do so. Given the demographics of the men who served in Vietnam, particularly combat roles, I’d say that there is probably a great deal of truth to that. It certainly doesn’t look like our “Commander in Chief” was all that eager to serve his country in his youth. After all, his previous physical was clean. It was only after he lost his educational deferment that he came down with an unfortunate case of bone spurs. The families’ of all those young men and women who are now coming home in coffins or missing limbs must really feel for the guy.